As we’ve mentioned in our podcast a couple of weeks ago, we recently made a special trip and we are here to talk about it! During this trip, we went back in time to explore China’s last dynasty — Qing — to see the grandeur that once took place behind the red walls of the Forbidden City, to witness the rise and fall of Empresses like Xiaoyi (a la The Story of Yanxi Palace), and to understand how their fate is really so far beyond what they could control. So, how did we do it exactly?

We went to the Peabody Essex Museum up in Salem, Massachusetts! (That’s right, Salem is not just a town well-known for witches and Halloween festivities!) Not only did we get to see the awesome new Empresses of China’s Forbidden City exhibit (August 18, 2018 – February 10, 2019), we also had an opportunity to see Yin Yu Tang, a sixteen-bedroom family house built during the Qing dynasty in the southeastern Huizhou region*.